Cape Town - Law enforcement agencies averted a possible violent altercation between DA and ANC members in the Joburg CBD on Wednesday, following the official opposition’s failed bid to hand over a memorandum to Luthuli House to demand an end to load shedding.
The drama unfolded early in the morning, as hundreds of ANC Youth League (ANCYL) members descended on the governing party’s headquarters – some armed with sjamboks, stones and other objects – saying they would protect the building.
So tense was the situation that the ANCYL formed a human chain outside Luthuli House aimed at preventing DA leader John Steenhuisen and thousands of the party’s supporters from getting anywhere close to Pixley Ka Isaka Seme Street, which borders the building.
The DA were holding their “power to the people march” as the party urged South Africans to voice their anger at the ANC’s destruction of the country’s energy infrastructure and economy and to demand urgent solutions to the escalating crisis.
In Cape Town, DA supporters marched through Darling and Adderley streets with placards.
However, a plan to hand over a memorandum to the ANC's regional head office was abandoned after ANC supporters gathered outside the building.
The ANC supporters chanted songs amid a heavy law enforcement presence.
As DA supporters marched past the ANC offices, police prevented a scuffle by putting up their shields, and despite tensions running high, no physical altercations were reported.
DA’s Alan Winde told the crowd: “People are gathering from all the way around.
“We need to show that this country needs change.
“When the lights go out, we gotta find the fault, we gotta fix the fault. That’s what today is all about.”
In Joburg, despite the presence of the police, including the metro police, ANCYL members displayed their sjamboks in a clear sign that they were ready for a clash with DA members.
Sjamboks were also on sale outside Luthuli House.
The quick thinking of law enforcement agencies kept the warring parties apart. DA members marched from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, and law enforcement prevented them from reaching Luthuli House.
Instead, they were confined to Beyers Naude Square. The police also erected barbed wire around all routes leading to Luthuli House, to help keep the groupings apart.
Youth League members said they were sending a clear message that Luthuli House was the ANC offices, and not “Eskom”.
But Steenhuisen said that the ANC’s headquarters were a “scene of crime”, saying the decision to award the tenders for the construction of Medupi and Kusile Power Stations in 2007 were allegedly taken in that building.
He said that the ANC profited millions of rand from the construction of the power stations.
Addressing his supporters, Steenhuisen said: “If you are serious about tackling the problem, you need to go straight to the source.
“And that building there, Luthuli House, is ground zero of our electricity crisis.”
“Almost every single problem that has beset Eskom and has brought about 15 years of load shedding can be traced back directly to the ANC’s cadre deployment programme,” Steenhuisen said.
Moments after concluding his main address, armed Youth League members tried to storm the barricades and reach DA members, but were again prevented by the law enforcement agencies which had to escort them back to Luthuli House.
Afterwards, police also escorted DA members back to Newtown – their earlier meeting point.
Police also kept a watchful eye on the situation as members remained until late guarding Luthuli House.
ANC Youth League convener Nonceba Mhlauli told her supporters that they would soon lead a march on Eskom headquarters to demand the earlier exit of the outgoing CEO, Andre de Ruyter who is set to leave on March 31.
Cape Times